Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First of all, I want to sympathise with the families and all those who have been bereaved as a result of Covid-19, particularly those 93 families that we heard of yesterday. It illustrates the extraordinarily devastating impact that the virus has had on our entire society and community.

May I also take the opportunity briefly on behalf of the Government and on behalf of the Oireachtas to wish President-elect Joe Biden the very, very best as he begins his journey as President of the United States? He is a very loyal friend to Ireland and has made no secret of that affection for this country. We look forward to welcoming him to Ireland during his Presidency.

It is with regret that I heard Deputy McDonald's contribution. I think it is overly partisan. It is overly political. It seeks to attack the Minister and the Government for seeking to work in good faith with all the partners in education to provide for children with special needs and their families. When we closed all schools at once, the Government took the decision originally not to reopen schools because we did not want 1 million people on the move, given the very high level of community transmission of the virus and the high levels of it in our community, but we wanted to provide for children with special needs. Everyone in the House did. I can quote every Deputy, and every spokesperson, saying we must do something to provide for children with special needs and that it cannot be all closures and no openings. Some Deputies suggested that maybe we could open on alternate days or particular parts of the week and that we needed to make some provision. The Government worked in good faith to do that. I can go back through what Deputy McDonald and other Deputies said during the first lockdown in terms of the necessity of having schools open for children with special needs. Everyone commented after the first lockdown on the degree of regression and the very negative impact on families. That idea or principle was shared by the education partners on good faith as well.

It is absolutely untrue to say there was no consultation. I just do not understand how Deputy McDonald can stand up and say something like that. It was just so untrue and it illustrates that this is a partisan political attack by Deputy McDonald, not a helpful or constructive approach to this issue.

I can go through it. Even last week on the public airwaves, the general secretary of the INTO said there would definitely be schools open this week and there would be members of the INTO and Fórsa in the schools. I think he said that in good faith. I think the leadership of the unions genuinely wanted and were anxious to try to get some provision for children with special needs. There has been an extraordinary degree of consultation on public health. That the webinar saw up to 14,000 or more participating illustrates the concerns and interest out there and the genuine contribution of many special needs assistants and teachers across the country. My sense of it is that there is a real and genuine anxiety out there. Notwithstanding the sharing of the objective of opening schools for special needs children, the wherewithal was not there to get a critical mass back into our schools right now. That is my sense of it without apportioning blame to anybody, but I can go through all the quotes. I can go through all the meetings that have taken place between the Department and the education partners.

I can go through all of the responses-----

See this speech in context